Path of the Vampire forum

Mason had a lot of powers that once were beyond accessible to her. That was something she'd definitely at least tried to appreciate. As a human, paladin or not, she never had access to such a wealth of abilities. It was interesting to see the difference. Of course, she realized that perhaps having been a paladin already gave her a head start over if she'd gone straight through. But it was also what had caused her so much pain after the transition. Of course teleportation was also one of the more 'expensive' of her abilities, so to speak. It was not particularly effective in a fight, but was good for leaving if you could before it got started. Or if you found a reprieve. Regardless, it was indeed very useful.

Mason appreciated that Caia turned the music off. She didn't have the attention for it right now. If Caia were to have spoken more to Warren about the subject, she might have come to the conclusion that, whatever the truth really was, he believed that. Or at least, that it was the final step that he had run into. Mason hummed in thought as she heard Caia's comment on the case of Wraiths, "I know it was something I'd have agreed to in his position." she admitted, "I'm not sure...he thinks about the difference. Or, emotionally anyway. At least he's never mentioned it to me...or maybe he did and I just never caught onto what he was saying."

They were on the roads soon, Mason had both hands on the wheel but they were fairly relaxed. If someone saw her, there'd definitely not be a sign of the situation they were in. Dulled down by the violence she'd already seen. Even if she wasn't used to Warren's riddles, she'd still have caught the meaning of the first sentence. She could understand the choice, even if she hadn't made it herself. If she didn't already know vampires could come back, and how fast, she might have attempted it herself. Mason glanced at her a few times, it was strange, how the shadow realm effected people. In Mason's case, it had an almost mellowing effect. Stripping away the anger against vampires she had. And herself. But also leaving her lost in goals. She had none anymore, and couldn't even remember what she might have had before she became a paladin. Maybe she should pick up some hobbies. Start drawing instead of just appreciating it.

Distracted. She returned to listening. She raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly as Caia said the one who mattered to her was named Warren also. Mason wondered slightly if they had anything in common. She also wondered if one day, Caia's Warren would become like Foster had. Probably not a pleasant route. Caia explained that was why she wanted to go to the Shadow Realm, understandable, but her experience in the place made her wonder if it was even possible to find anyone else. She smiled sympathetically as Caia apologized, again a reminder to the dead body in the truck. Caia ended on a sad note, and Mason decided she should speak, "Yeah. It wasn't great. But..." Mason held a hand out gesturing to the world around them, "You live in Harper Rock. Probably the most corrupt area on the planet. I can go for a ten minute walk and find a gangster, a thief, a zombie, a cop, maybe all within a few blocks of each other."

She sighed running a hand through her hair, "Do anything, and you're at risk. Dating, that's no different. Until I got killed, I'd been fighting things almost daily for...awhile. Had a lot of anger during that. But I met someone kind still, knew him as a paladin, met him again after I turned. We both liked art, he drew and I just liked to look at them. I still have the one he made of me. We didn't have any romantic relations, but just him existing I think helped me. Don't see each other often still."

A breath before continuing, "What I mean is, a lot can go wrong. Maybe the pain and darkness won't end. But in my Wraith, Warren's words, 'It doesn't matter.' I'm...calmer than I've been probably for years. Things that used to cause me so much pain just don't anymore. Time...erodes things. It hurts when joys are taken from us, but there'll always be more to get somewhere. I originally summoned Warren begrudgingly, but sometimes he does say things that are...well, wise. Don't cut yourself off because of these bad moments, it'll only hurt more. At least, that's my opinion."

She tried to speak softly and give what comfort she could. But Mason had never been the most skilled speaker. She, ultimately, ended up being far more of a fighter than anything else. An occupation that would once have been very unfitting, yet, this place bred changes of the most extreme. And hers was hardly the most strange.

Mason was keeping her eyes open for any potential issues. But she also had to make sure she drove perfectly fine, if she did something wrong, then they might have reason to try and stop her. Strange wasn't it, hiding from the law. The law she once hoped would rid the world of the disease that was vampires, at least that's what she had thought at the time. Now...things were different. She found herself incredibly neutral, yet more caring at the same time. Even before she'd become a paladin, she'd have never gone this far. Course, she also probably would have had a lot more panic back then.

Perhaps it was looking on things in a new light, after returning from darkness. She could finally see the flaws that her former belief's had. Could finally see how far she'd gone. To say she had guilt might not be quite right. But she definitely had a new light on things. She now saw how downhill things could go with each mistake. Maybe covering this up wasn't right, but at the same time, if they didn't, Caia might suffer for it for a very long time. It wasn't even just one lifetime anymore. It could be eternity. In light of that, she had to make her decisions.

She nodded as nodded in agreement as Caia said there were good moments, but weren't always noticed. They were indeed. Perhaps she'd have been more attentive to such things if she wasn't so corrupted by the disgust she'd had as a paladin. Or the fear before that when she was human. Strange, how calm she was now that she'd been thrown into the deepest end of the pool.

Mason smiled as Caia spoke again, and mentioned the rarity of people being willing to go this far to help her. "In fairness. I would have been one of them for a long time." she admitted, "I guess there are things that just need to change. Immortality is such a weird concept. I guess I'll need to learn to have a lot more patience."

She had gotten a little distracted by the concept. But she was still watching the road. Shouldn't be too long before they could get to the river and find somewhere abandoned enough. She knew a place where the road was in the forest, but where they shouldn't be touched by the fae. Safe enough to drop a body, but not so deep that the fae would come for them.

Mason nodded, the suppression of vampires was hardly efficient. It wasn't accomplishing enough, even for what they wanted. Strategies would have to change. Whether that would be giving up on this failed plan, or trying to push even harder, she didn't know yet. But something was going to happen regardless. "Sooner or later, something will happen. It'll loosen or it'll get worse. I don't know which. I could leave, it wouldn't really be that hard. And I imagine if I really wanted to, I could go under the radar for a very long time. I have a reflection now. Being pale can be hidden with makeup if I really wanted, and I used to not have that, maybe I could get a human complexion again. Then the only sign, would be heat. I bet even that I could find a way to replicate." She sighed, "But that feels pointless. Not impossible...just that it wouldn't be worth it."

The Shadow Realm was always a threat, as Caia mentioned. Before her first visit, she would not have considered that the case. She did consider it a sort of temporary prison though. It was why she was willing to send vampires there. She still saw the possible use of it as such. It wasn't like you could really contain a vampire. But maybe limit that to extreme cases. "It's unpleasant to say the least. I can see how easy it is to lose yourself in there. I can see how wraiths become the way they are, and I was only there one week." she realized this might not be the best discussion right now, and shut up on it.

And then...lights. She winced and let out a breath, slowing down and pulling off to a stop. If she had a beating heart, it probably would have accelerated. As it was she simply hid her stress as best she could. Lying was never her skillset. She nodded as Caia said that they should just stay calm. But, as vampires, they really had no rights. Maybe she could just use her human license, maybe that would help them get away with it.

But then Caia said something that might give her hope, or more concern, depending on the person maybe. He came up and Mason kept her hands on the wheel, he spoke as if he was talking to the actual owner. In a place like this it made sense that could happen. And then he realized it wasn't him. Mason might have spoken, but Caia did first.

The interaction between the two made Mason smile. Friends, that was better. He introduced himself, apparently they had known each other for awhile. Mason smiled, "Mason Dunn." she gave simply before he left not too long after giving his bit about the light.

Mason smiled this time with relief as he left and they started off again. She chuckled slightly with Caia's reaction as well, "The luck of that was crazy." she admitted, "Barely even got my name out."

As they continued she cocked her head, they shouldn't be too far away, but there was a random thought on her mind, "This is going to be really out of place, but you know, I've never figured out if I should introduce myself as Mason or Macy. It's not like I have any issue with being called either one, but a lot of the people I know well call me Macy. Legally, it's Mason. Parents had a name before they knew if I was a boy or a girl and just decided it fit either way. Never could choose for sure myself."

Things were certainly interesting as a vampire, to say the least. As a paladin, she was used to watching things from a sort of outsiders perspective. Of course there was her desire to "rid the world of the disease" but noticing vampires going about life as if they were normal brought a peculiar sense with it. Now, however, she was dealing with it herself. For awhile when she was turned, she made few efforts to truly appear like a human. She kept to herself, avoided the issues, and continued her 'work' with nearly no distractions. But now there was some weird sense of normalcy. Not that it was normal, merely that this was a...maintainable existence.

She turned her head slightly, though kept eyes forwards, as Caia mentioned the tail light and Albert. She furrowed her brow and hummed, "He was surprisingly calm given the situation." she admitted, now slightly suspect of it. It was Harper Rock though, that could mean nearly anything. She did not voice this, but she was tempted to investigate the man more later. Technically, that wasn't quite required of her. But she didn't feel particularly like taking chances. Of course, it seemed at least to Caia he might be loyal. Still, she was curious.

The change of topic she'd tried to provide seemed to have worked, at least somewhat. She shrugged at whether she preferred or not. "I don't mind either way. Though sometimes people do get the wrong idea from Mason." she admitted. She'd chuckle slightly at Caia's comment on her possible name having been from a dead dog, "Guess your parents nearly pulled an 'Indiana Jones' on you eh?"

Caia talked about wanting to be named after a plant or flower. Mason hummed again in thought as the car slowed down as they were about to finally get out and have to deal with things. She also talked about doing so much in the dark now, "I got a little more used to that while still human. Still...it's not great. The thought of immortality brings some wild concepts with it to say the least. The thought of a society living in the night almost exclusively is an odd one."

she stopped the truck and took in a breath, unneeded as it was before pushing open her door. "Ok...we're here."